Asia Stocks Fall as Investors Weigh Timing of Fed Taper

Dec. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks fell, with the regional
benchmark gauge sliding for the first time in three days, as
investors weighed the timing of a reduction in the Federal
Reserve’s unprecedented stimulus.

OZ Minerals Ltd. slumped 14 percent to the lowest close
since 2002 after the Australian copper miner forecast production
will be lower than estimates. Mazda Motor Corp., a carmaker that
gets 30 percent of sales in North America, slipped 1 percent as
the yen gained. China Coal Energy Co., the nation’s No. 2 coal
producer, dropped 3.9 percent in Hong Kong after the government
said it plans to curb consumption of the fuel in some areas.
Mixi Inc. slumped 17 percent after the Japanese social-network
operator was downgraded at Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index slid 0.6 percent to 139.87 as
of 6:44 p.m. in Hong Kong, with nine of 10 industry groups
falling. Thirty-four percent of economists surveyed by Bloomberg
on Dec. 6 expect the U.S. central bank will begin paring its $85
billion in monthly bond purchases when it meets next week.

“A wave of risk aversion has swept through markets,”
Matthew Sherwood, Sydney-based head of investment markets
research at Perpetual Ltd., which manages about $25 billion,
said in an e-mail. “The taper debate is the sole focus of the
market at present. I still believe Janet Yellen is unlikely to
reduce stimulus until a couple of months into her new role.”

Yellen, the current Fed vice chairman and the nominee to
succeed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke when his term ends Jan. 31.,
has said premature tapering will put the recovery at risk. More
than $8 trillion has been added to the value of global equities
this year, the most since 2009, as central banks took steps to
shore up economies worldwide.

Relative Value

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index has gained 8.1 percent this
year to trade at 13.8 times estimated earnings, compared with
multiples of 16.2 for the S&P 500 and 14.8 for the Stoxx Europe
600 Index as of yesterday, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The
Asia-Pacific benchmark fell 1.8 percent last week.

U.S. Budget

S&P 500 futures fell less than 0.1 percent as a U.S. budget
accord was reached to ease the long-criticized automatic
spending cuts for the next two years, remove the risk of a
government shutdown and cut the deficit by $23 billion.

The U.S. equity measure dropped 0.3 percent from a record
high yesterday, as investors weighed the budget negotiations and
a report showed U.S. job openings climbed to a five-year high in
October, spurring concern the Federal Reserve will cut stimulus
sooner than expected.

OZ Minerals tumbled 14 percent to A$2.65, the lowest since
2002. Copper production in 2014 will be 75,000 metric tons to
80,000 metric tons, the company said today in a statement.

China Coal Energy dropped 3.9 percent to HK$4.73. China
will have regional coal consumption control plans for some key
areas, Xie Zhenhua, vice chairman of the National Development &
Reform Commission，said at a meeting yesterday，according to a
statement posted on NDRC website.

China Mobile

China Mobile Ltd. fell 3.2 percent to HK$81.40, the biggest
drop since Oct. 22, after Bank of America Corp. Merrill Lynch
said it expects demand for iPhones on the carrier’s fourth-generation mobile network to be modest. The stock was also
downgraded at Barclays Plc.

Mixi slumped 17 percent to 7,560 yen at the close after
being untraded throughout the day. Goldman Sachs cut Mixi’s
rating to sell from neutral, saying the shares have risen too
high. The stock surged 661 percent from Nov. 19 through
yesterday.

Gree Inc. climbed 2.3 percent to 1,165 yen, paring gains of
as much as 20 percent, after Goldman Sachs raised its outlook on
the Japanese mobile-gaming company on wider-than-expected cost
cuts.